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Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Savoury Kugelhopf~~We Knead To Bake#7

A kugelhopf which is also spelt as Gugelhupf, Kugelhupf or Kugelhoph is a yeasted sweeten brioche like cake well known in the Alsace region of France, Germany,Switzerland and Austria. Also many variation of this cake is found in some coutnries of Eastern Europe.Kugelhopf consists of a soft yeast dough which contains raisins, almonds and Kirschwasser cherry brandy. Some also contain candied fruits and nuts. Some regional varieties (Czech, Hungarian and Slovenian) are also filled, often with a layer of sweetened ground poppy seeds.

It is baked in a special circular pan with a central tube, originally made of enamelled pottery. Similar pans are used for making Bundt cakes, a cake baking pan shape in the US derived from the Kugelhopf.Since Kugelhopf is a yeasted cake, it will have a dense bread like texture and is made from an enriched dough like brioche. Its considered similar to a coffee cake that can be eaten for or with breakfast or also a part of an afternoon snack with coffee. Coming to this savoury version, this Kugelhopf suits too good for breakfast, as a snack or along with a simple soup.Usually savoury Kugelhopf goes for a kind of bacon/ham,onions, walnuts and herbs but this savoury kugelhopf goes for just veggies,if you like ham or bacon you can add them as u desire. This is our 7th challenge of this month's We Knead To Bake, a monthly event by Aparna of My Diverse Kitchen.

Take the 3 cups of flour,yeast,salt in a bowl,add the butter and mix it well.

Slowly add the warm milk,lightly beaten eggs and knead everything as a soft and sticky dough.

Knead more, add slowly the remaining flour little at a time and just enough till the dough pulls away from the bowl.

Dough will be very soft,elastic,but bit sticky, transfer it to a greased bowl and cover it.Keep aside and let it rise until the dough double in volume.

This will take almost 1-2hours.

Meanwhile, heat half a tablespoon of oil, add the chopped green bell pepper,tomato,sweet corn kernels, salt and stir fry until the raw smell disappears, but the vegetable should be crunchy, remove and keep aside.

To the same pan, add the remaining oil, ad the chopped onions and saute until they turns golden brown.

Let the sauteed veggies gets cool completely and keep aside.

Grease a 8inch kugelhopf mould or a bundt pan or else a brioche pan.

Place the chopped walnuts in the bottom of the mould,once the dough gets risen, deflate it.

Add the cheese,stir fried onions,veggies,black pepper, thyme into the dough.

The best way to do this is to flatten the dough out and spread all this over the surface,fold the dough over and then knead it.

This will ensure a more uniform incorporation of the filling, the dough will be sticky, use a scraper to help, dont add more flour.

Roll the dough as a log,long enough to fit the mould. Lift the dough and place it in the mould in a cirle, stick the two ends together to close the circle of dough.

Cover and let the dough rise for an hour until it reached the edge of the mould.

Bake the kugelhopf at 400F for 35-40minutes until the top turns golden brown and sounds hollow when its tapped.

Unmould the kugelhopf and let it cook on a rack.

Slice and serve.

Tips:
I used the silicon brioche mould for making this kugelhopf, to give the prefect kugelhopf look, i used a greased glass to give the hole in the center of my brioche mould.

Once you drop the log like dough into the greased brioche mould, just press the greased glass in the middle and press on the top tightly.